10) The Story Is Incredible (And True)
Despite a film adaptation having already been made prior to now (1971’s Richard Harris-starring Man In The Wilderness), not many people have heard the story of Hugh Glass, the fur trapper who embarked on a revenge rampage after he was mauled by a bear and left for dead in 1820s South Dakota. It’s an incredible story, ripe for a 21st century cinematic update and one that might be taken as pure fiction if it didn’t also happen to be true.
Yes, an actual Hugh Glass was in 1823 left in the wilds to die by two comrades, after a bear left him with a broken leg and his ribs exposed. Glass then picked himself up and traveled alone for hundreds of treacherous miles filled with enemy natives, with the intention of confronting his former brothers-in-arms over their betrayal.
Seriously, the filmmakers must have been counting their blessings when they came across this story.